Surefire is the legendary creator of weapon lights. They’ve expanded their offerings for sure, but weapon lights are their bread and butter. They carved themselves a name by creating rugged and well-made lights that quickly became the standard for military and police forces. Surefire makes tons of lights, and while many are quick to call them stale, they take the Glock approach to new product releases. They refuse to release anything until it’s bombproof. One of their latest releases is the Surefire Mini Scout Pro Series.
Well, maybe it’s less of a new release and more of an update. The new Surefire Pro series has updated the light’s mounting methods. No longer are we stuck with a single angle of mounting from the factory and relying on the aftermarket. The light costs enough money. Why spend another $50 to $100 on a new mounting system?
The Pro Series allows for angled mounting that allows a greater degree of freedom in where the mount sits and how the light sits against the gun. Basically, you can mount it on any rail and reverse the angle in nearly any direction. It allows for a tight fit to the gun and rail. The Surefire Pro series come with both Picatinny and M-LOK mounts to fit modern carbines, SMGs, and shotguns.
The Mini Scout
The Mini Scout is famously mini. It’s ultra-small, rugged, and durable. The old Mini Scout provides a rifle-powered light and beams in a smaller footprint. Rifle-powered light doesn’t mean what it used to, admittedly. Cloud Defensive and Modlite have changed the conversation. However, the Mini Scout is designed for close-quarters use, and to be fair, it’s often paired with people who already have night vision.
For my uses, the 500 lumens backed by 7,600 candela is plenty for identifying a threat inside the home. If you can accept the lower power, the Mini Scout is a mere 4.1 inches long and weighs only 3.65 ounces. It’s super small and powerful for its size. What it doesn’t sacrifice is the 1.125-inch bezel which helps create a better beam.
As with any Surefire product, you can rely on a massive aftermarket and plenty of modularity. There are numerous switches available, as well as nearly anything else you could want for a light. That’s a pretty big benefit for a weapon light.
And as mentioned, it’s perfect for home defense. Surefire specifically designed the light to use plenty of spill to light up a room. This spreads the light for your peripheral vision and lights up a living room from side to side.
Mounting and Ergonomics
Mounting the Mini Scout wasn’t tough to do. I mounted it to an Iron Horse Sentry 12, which only offers the top rail for mounting accessories. Although, I have swapped to the M-LOK mount, and it’s super simple. The light flops around on its mount at first but leave it floppy for a second. Once the mount is attached to the rail, you can then manipulate the light at the angle you want it to sit.
This allowed me to mount it to the Iron Horse Sentry 12’s top rail but also position it for easy access while manipulating the pump. My thumb can easily reach the button when holding onto the pump. This way, I can activate the light without changing how I handle the gun.
The light is mounted as far forward as possible, but because it’s so lightweight, it’s not changing the balance of the weapon in any noticeable way. The rear clicky switch is fairly simple but very easy to use. It’s tactile and responsive. Using the light in Momentary mode is easy with a long press, and it turns on immediately when pressed.
At the Range
A light isn’t worth much if it can’t stand up to recoil. I had no doubts the Surefire Mini Scout would work, but testing is always required. There are plenty of ways to test a light under recoil, but the most efficient for me seemed to be with a pump shotgun and a full-powered load of Hornady Black. This load of eight pellet buckshot moves at 1,600 feet per second. It’s arguably beyond full power. Shotguns can be tough on, well, everything.
I loaded up the Iron Horse Sentry 12 and lit off 20 rounds of the Hornady Black as quickly as I could load it. My shoulder might have been beaten, but the Surefire Mini Scout is no slouch. It took all that recoil and worked without a flutter.
The IPX7 rating also ensures it’s capable of being submerged up to a meter and can sit there for 30 minutes. I’m not expecting such a thing to happen in my home, but I dunked the light just to see, and lo and behold, Surefire’s reputation precedes them. Water was no issue.
The Beam
I got that beam boys. The Mini Scout isn’t a long-range light. It won’t light up a threat 100 yards out there to establish positive identification. At 25 yards, you are blinding someone. At 50 yards, if they have a long gun, you’ll have no problem identifying it and you’ll also be capable of seeing how a person is dressed. And at 75 yards, you’ll be able to see that there is a person at the very least.
The beam is not super focused, and the candela doesn’t propel the beam very far compared to modern modlite and Cloud Defensive options. The spill is quite large, as mentioned, and forms a nice big corona. The hot spot is clearly defined, and the area between the hot spot and the spill is easily identifiable.
It’s a cooler light with a slight blue beam to it. The light can cut through most pistol lights in terms of photonic barriers. It’s also capable of cutting through most home lights, so if you are in a bright area and shining a light into a dark area, it won’t be affected. At short range, things like fog won’t be much of a challenge, either. At anything beyond 25 yards, you might find some difficulty.
Keep It Mini
The Surefire Mini Scout Pro Series lives up to the company’s standards. The new mounting system is extremely nice and very capable. The Mini Scout Pro is an excellent option for indoor home defense and for anything done at close range. If you are rocking and rolling with night vision, it’s a great choice for the occasional use of white light and does an excellent job of saving weight.
The Mini Scout Pro Series is the next generation of mini weapon lights, and Surefire has lived up to its reputation.
